


Reassessing Priorities

by Lepidopteran (lepi)



Series: Earn Your Way Back [2]
Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Rebirth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-20
Updated: 2015-03-20
Packaged: 2018-03-18 19:47:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3581673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lepi/pseuds/Lepidopteran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soundwave returns to a world where his old goals are no longer relevant.  Luckily, he finds some new ones, as well as some old friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reassessing Priorities

**Author's Note:**

> The recorded line Soundwave says is from WFC/FOC.

The Autobots took the ship too easily without Soundwave available to coordinate troop movements. Soundwave's spark burned, but he kept a silent vigil from his dimensional prison anyway. Hooking into the systems took care and far too much energy, but he could still watch with his optics. He could still record. He stored everything he observed. Megatron: extinguished. Starscream: captured. Soundwave: incapacitated. Knock Out: traitor. Vehicons: loyalty too easily swayed. Laserbeak: incapacitated. Decepticon cause: failure.

There was nothing in that world left for Soundwave, no logical reason to expend the effort of returning, until he witnessed sparks streaking across the sky outside the Nemesis.

Laserbeak's ping registered at nearly the same moment. _Ravage,_ Laserbeak said, not in words but in unmistakeable data. _Ravage Ravage Ravage returned/here/Ravage!_ and Soundwave's own spark finally lifted. He shifted his priorities. Decepticon cause: failure. New priority: return and protect Ravage's spark.

He had two means of returning to his home dimension, but attempting to recreate the bridge crossover would be next to impossible without access to the Autobot base on Earth. Instead, he simply waited and caught the arm of the youngest Autobot (Smokescreen: no military record; assigned to Iacon archives directly from Elite Guard training; no fear; no threat so long as his careless attitude does not lead others to underestimate him). The phase shifter worked as intended and dragged him through to the correct dimension, effortlessly adjusting for the time desynchronization.

Smokescreen screeched and wrenched his arm backwards. Soundwave held on long enough to remind the Autobot of who the victor would be in a combat situation, then accessed the bridge controls and set them for the direction Laserbeak's excited pings pointed towards.

The coordinates wouldn't be exact, but that was preferable in this case. Soundwave only had time for the most basic data wipe, and he had no intention of leading the Autobots straight to Ravage's unprotected spark.

_Ravage_ , Laserbeak sang, and Soundwave transformed to search for the hot spot by air.

From the number of sparks he had seen and the directions they had taken, he would have estimated that four of the known hot spots were in use, but the data filtering into the Nemesis had told him that the geography of Cybertron's resources had shifted. The hot spots would not necessarily be in the same places as they had been prior to the shutdown. Fortunately, as a Minicon carrier, Soundwave had the ability to refine limited quantities of raw energon internally— he'd made certain to keep that mod even when streamlining his frame so that he could keep himself and Laserbeak functioning through an emergency. As long as energon existed once more on Cybertron— and it did— Soundwave could search for orns without needing to return to the refinement facility Bulkhead and the Vehicons had constructed.

Despite that ability, he had to divert to scavenge for raw energon twice before he found the hot spot; it turned out to be partially hidden under a roof that had tilted to the side and covered the growing protoforms. Soundwave landed and crouched to peer underneath. This hot spot was a small one; only seventeen sparks had formed their bubbles on the porous surface. Spark pattern analysis confirmed one as Ravage, and Laserbeak eagerly deployed to investigate more closely. Soundwave turned his attention to the other sparks and found himself overcome.

Rumble and Frenzy were there as well, on the opposite side of the hot spot from Ravage. They were accompanied by five other Minicon sparks that Soundwave could match to his database— Buzzsaw, Steeljaw, Eject, Ramhorn, Rewind— and nine full-sized Cybertronians.

Soundwave bowed his head. The Autobots had done this, however unintentionally. They had given him back his partners.

Something landed behind him with a heavy metallic clang, and Soundwave whirled, ready to face down the roving Predacons or the escaped Starscream. Instead, he found himself looking at a mess of conflicting data. Spark readings indicated _Megatron: not extinguished_ , but the frame indicated _Unicron_. Soundwave tilted his head and relaxed, as he revised those conflicting analyses. Megatron: frame rebuilt, spark returned. This was not the chaos-bringer; this was the one he had followed and would continue to follow until the end of his existence.

_Soundwave has new purpose,_ Laserbeak whispered through their connection. Megatron had not been fond of Soundwave's partners in the beginning. Laserbeak worried that his return would create conflict between Soundwave's dedication to the frameless partners he needed to protect and the master he needed to follow.

Soundwave projected calm back at his remaining partner. Megatron showed no signs of bloodlust or hostility. His forces were greatly diminished and what remained of his army dispersed. He would not dismiss Soundwave's partners.

"So," Megatron said after a moment. "You, too, survive." He reached out towards Soundwave, then glanced at his own hands and curled them into fists with a snarl. "I thought you might be looking for this hot spot… if you still lived."

Soundwave nodded once. He displayed Ravage's schematics on his visor.

"Yes. I thought the bubbles looked distinctly… Minicon." Megatron looked over at the hot spot. Soundwave took the opportunity to analyze his body language and vocal inflections. Sorrow. Regret. Frustration. Pain. Megatron: intends no harm to Minicons. Megatron: does not blame Soundwave for his failure. Megatron: changed.

Megatron: damaged.

Soundwave's analysis, despite being incomplete due to his limited access to any data available after his encounter with the humans, projected several possible reasons. He reached out to Megatron instinctively, as though Megatron were his partner instead of his master. _Protect_ , sang his subroutines. _Megatron: damaged. Soundwave: protect._

Megatron stiffened at the touch, then barked a harsh laugh. "Do you think me weak, Soundwave?" he asked. Derision: false, misleading. Soundwave could feel him lean into the touch, his plating thrumming a steady, tense rhythm. "I have no intention of leading the Decepticons to victory anymore."

Soundwave reached into his databanks for a recording of his own voice. _"As you command, Lord Megatron."_

Megatron looked at him for a long moment. Soundwave could feel the tense vibrations calm under his hand, bit by bit, and he dropped his hand. "Ah, Soundwave," Megatron said. "My most loyal follower."

Soundwave nodded and turned back to the hot spot. Megatron, after a moment, settled down beside him. Soundwave said, in his own voice, without a recording, "The future of the Decepticons is now the same future as all Cybertronians. Soundwave will protect it."

For a breem, Megatron stayed silent, as though the conversation had ended there. Finally, though, he said into that silence, "A wise course of action, Soundwave. I shall do the same."


End file.
